{"product_id":"the-principles-of-english-versification-gb-21342","title":"The Principles of English Versification","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Principles of English Versification\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMost of the older discussions of English versification\r\nlabored under two difficulties: an undue\r\nadherence to the traditions of Greek and Latin prosody\r\nmore or less perfectly understood, and an exaggerated\r\nformalism. But recently the interest and excitement\r\n(now happily abated) over free-verse have reopened\r\nthe old questions and let in upon them not a little\r\nlight. Even today, however, a great deal of metrical\r\nanalysis has wrecked itself on the visible rocks of a\r\nfalse accuracy, and it is therefore not only out of caution\r\nbut also out of mere common sense that we should\r\neschew the arbitrary, even at the risk of vagueness\r\nand an 'unscientific' admission of uncertainty. For\r\nthe only great and annihilating danger of writing on\r\nversification is dogmatism. Our theorists, both old\r\nand new, are first tempted and then possessed with\r\ntheir theoriesall else becoming wrong and intolerable.\r\nIn the following pages I have perhaps erred in\r\na too frequent insistence on doubts and perplexities;\r\nperhaps also, on occasion, in a too plain statement of\r\nopinion where judgments are bound to differsic\r\nse res habent.\nNow it is plain that rhythm is one of the ultimate\r\nfacts of nature and one of the universal principles of\r\n[viii]art; and thus versification, which is the study of the\r\nrhythms of verse, is both a science and an art. But\r\nit differs from the other sciences in that its phenomena\r\nare not 'regular' and reducible to law, but varying\r\nand subject to the dictates, even the whims, of genius;\r\ninasmuch as every poem involves a fresh fiat of creation.\r\nOf course, no poet when he is composing, either\r\nin the traditional \"fine frenzy\" or in the more sober\r\nprocess of revision, thinks of prosody as a science, or\r\nperhaps thinks of it at all. If he did he would go mad,\r\nand produce nothing. But the phenomena remain,\r\nnevertheless, and the analysis of them becomes for\r\nus a science.\nThis analysis has what Bacon would call two inconveniences.\r\nThe first is complexity. The various\r\nways in which the formal rhythms of verse combine\r\nwith the infinitely modulated rhythms of natural prose\r\nproduce a resultant which is complicated to the last\r\ndegree and which almost precludes orderly exposition.\r\nNo system has been devised to express it. The\r\nsimpler ones fail through omission of important\r\ndifficulties, the more elaborate totter under their own\r\nweight. And thus the Gentle Reader is either beguiled\r\nby false prophetslooks up and is not fedor\r\nloses heart and saves himself by flight. There is,\r\nto be sure, an arcanum of prosodic theory which is\r\nthe province of specialists. It has its place in the\r\nscheme of things; but it is no more necessary for the\r\ngenuine enjoyment of Milton (or the 'moderns') than\r\na knowledge of the formulae for calculating the parallax\r\nof Alpha Leonis is necessary for enjoying the\r\n[ix]pillared firmament. We must then compromise with\r\na system which reveals the existence of all the phenomena\r\nand tries to suggest their interrelated workings.\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 21342 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Baum, Paull F. (Paull Franklin) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: May 7, 2007 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Baum, Paull F. (Paull Franklin),1886-1964 \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43217952899229,"sku":"gb-21342-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/21342.jpg?v=1671459841","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-principles-of-english-versification-gb-21342","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}